Set default web browser on Linux


On Debian based systems, the default browser is set using the alternatives mechanism.

Get browser categories

# update-alternatives --get-selections | grep browser
gnome-www-browser              auto     /usr/bin/google-chrome-stable
x-www-browser                  auto     /usr/bin/google-chrome-stable

Get registered alternatives

# update-alternatives --list gnome-www-browser
/usr/bin/firefox-esr
/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable
# update-alternatives --list x-www-browser
/usr/bin/firefox-esr
/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable
/usr/bin/konqueror

Set your preferred web browser

# update-alternatives --set x-www-browser /usr/bin/firefox-esr 
update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/firefox-esr to provide /usr/bin/x-www-browser (x-www-browser) in manual mode
# update-alternatives --set gnome-www-browser /usr/bin/firefox-esr 
update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/firefox-esr to provide /usr/bin/gnome-www-browser (gnome-www-browser) in manual mode

Success

All apps should now use your default web browser, as long as you haven't set the browser to use explicitly in the app's settings.

Happy browsing!


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